Last weekend’s draw with Brighton served to highlight that Arsenal will need to consistently be at the peak of their powers if they are to finally topple Manchester City’s reign over the Premier League.
Two terms ago it was a five-point margin, last term it was reduced to only two. That is the same margin that splits the champions and Arsenal at present, with only Liverpool managing to maintain the pace with a perfect record alongside City.
Now as it is the international break, so Mikel Arteta is not going to get as much time on the training ground with the players who have dispersed across the globe as he would have liked – especially with the North London derby, the beginning of a new Champions League campaign then finally Pep Guardiola’s side both on the immediate horizon.
When the team news is announced 75 minutes prior to kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, September 15, Gunners supporters’ eyes will quickly go in search of Raheem Sterling’s name. The forward completed a deadline day loan move from Chelsea, but missed the cut-off time to be allowed to make his debut before the break.
He has not played since pre-season for the Blues, but has at least built a base of fitness before arriving and further training during the break will allow him to quickly integrate into Arteta’s plans.
Goalkeeper Neto also joined on loan, this time from Bournemouth. Like Sterling the Brazilian was unable to be included against Brighton, so 18-year-old Tommy Setford deputised for David Raya. He can come into the squad and takeover that back-up role.
After that, Gabriel Jesus has been sidelined with a groin injury since last month’s season opener against Wolves, and it is touch-and-go whether he will make his return against the club’s greatest rivals. He would not be expected to start upon his return, especially when there are existing fit and firing options to call upon, but he will at least provide confidence-boosting cover from the bench.
Unfortunately from that point onwards, Arteta is looking at a list of absentees that will extend further into the season.
Declan Rice will be suspended for the visit to Spurs after his red card against Brighton before the break. England’s recent goalscorer was dismissed under contentious circumstances, picking up a second yellow card for kicking the ball away when Joel Veltman attempted a quick free-kick, from which he received the full force of the defender’s kick-through.
As it came from a second yellow card, VAR could not intervene in the live situation, nor could Arsenal appeal the decision after the match. At least it means Rice will be kept fit for the tricky trip to the Etihad Stadium the week after, for which he can return to the midfield.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are both then currently ruled out with knee and hamstring problems respectively, whilst late summer signing Mikel Merino was the unlucky recipient of a shoulder injury in his first training session with the club, so will be missing for a couple of months at least.
Even all of this is said in the additional hope that there are not three further names added to the injury list.
Captain Martin Odegaard picked up a knock in the last Premier League fixture and was substituted, but has at least since allayed fears by playing a full 90 minutes for Norway against Kazakhstan two days ago. Jurrien Timber similarly left the field early in the same match, and he too was since able to feature as a second-half substitute in the Netherlands’ 5-2 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Riccardo Calafiori has provided a final fresh worry on international duty, and could miss the upcoming derby after being taken off whilst playing for Italy. The summer signing has reportedly returned to North London to undergo further assessment for his bizarre problem, caused by being clattered into by Ousmane Dembele after the Frenchman was tackled by Alessandro Bastoni.
From the last Arsenal match, Arteta has the remainder of a solid defensive blockade to call upon in Raya, Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. Thomas Partey has now played three consecutive full 90 minutes, then the forward line of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard have started the campaign strongly.
Arteta would then be forced to commit to a juggling act with his remaining options on the bench, as only two remaining spots in a 20-man matchday squad are to be filled. Fit and available are Gabriel Martinelli, Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior, whilst youngsters like Ethan Nwaneri could be pushed further down the pecking order.
Arsenal’s strongest 20-man matchday squad
Starting XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Trossard.
Substitutes: Neto, Calafiori, Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Merino, Martinelli, Jesus, Sterling.
